Penguins pasted by S. Illinois

With a 37-2 win, the Salukis showed why they're No. 1 in the country.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Last week Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock outlined just what his team needed to do to compete against the No. 1 team in Division I-AA -- Southern Illinois.
He said the Penguins needed to avoid turnovers and big plays by the opponent, and they needed to run the football and stop the run.
Saturday night, the Penguins didn't do any of those things.
Southern Illinois turned YSU's opening drive into a 95-yard interception touchdown and then went on to hand the Penguins their second straight Gateway Conference defeat 37-2 before an announced crowd of 16,837 at Stambaugh Stadium.
The loss dropped the Penguins to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Gateway, while the top-ranked Salukis improved to 5-1, 2-0.
"I guess we didn't do a very good job of coaching these kids this week," Heacock said. "That's a very good football team, a very talented No. 1 team."
Penguins power ahead
For the second straight week the Penguins started off strong, coming out on their first offensive drive and marching to the Salukis' 7-yard line.
But on third down from the 7, redshirt freshman quarterback Tom Zetts tried to hit senior wide receiver Phil Larmon over the middle with a short pass. The ball tipped off his fingers and into the hands of the Salukis' Alexis Moreland at the 5 and he quickly turned it into six points with a 95-yard return with 10:13 remaining in the first quarter.
The interception seemed to take the life out of the Penguins as they fell behind 30-0 at halftime and were never in the game the rest of the way.
YSU's only points came by way of a Southern Illinois mistake in the third period when SIU quarterback Joel Sambursky was called for intentional grounding from his own end zone, giving the Penguins a safety and their only score of the game.
On the night the Penguins committed two turnovers (both interceptions). They rushed for just 92 yards on 35 attempts and finished with 204 total yards, their lowest production of the season.
On the other hand, Southern Illinois finished with 468 total yards, 198 rushing, and had three touchdown plays of nearly 50 yards each.
"The early interception was a big blow, but it was those big-play touchdowns that really hurt," said Heacock. "It's so hard to recover from those big plays."
Set-back
Junior wide receiver Kyle Smith, who led the Penguins with four catches for 64 yards, with the longest a 25-yarder, said the interception hurt.
"It was a big blow and it really took something out of our offense, but it wasn't like we gave up or anything," he said. "We tried to come back, but that's a good defense, probably the best we've faced this season."
Zetts, who shared playing time with junior Aaron Marshall and redshirt freshman Vince Gliatta, who saw his first offensive action of the season, finished 10-of-23 for 112 yards and one interception. He was sacked three times and was under pressure all night.
Sophomore tailback Regis Edgerson led the YSU rushers with 44 yards on 11 carries, while Marshall was second with 26 yards on five carries. The Penguins didn't give up 100 yards to any of the Salukis backs, but Arkee Whitlock had 97 and Brandon Jacobs added 82.
Following Moreland's interception, the Penguins' offense was punchless and the Salukis came right back to score again with the help of a roughing-the-punter penalty against the Penguins that kept the drive alive.
Sambursky gave the Salukis a 14-0 lead when he fired a 56-yard scoring pass to Craig Turner.
SIU got on the scoreboard again early in the second quarter when Salukis punter Zach Kettelkamp dropped one on the YSU 2-yard line.
Two plays later Zetts was tackled in the end zone by Mark Phillips for a safety. After the kickoff the Salukis drove down the field again. This time it was Sambursky hitting Brent Little with a 47-yard scoring toss and a 23-0 lead.
YSU made one more drive in the half, getting to the Southern Illinois 14, but two straight losses put the ball on the 26 and senior kicker Nick Terracina, nursing a pulled groin muscle, missed a 43-yard field goal.
The Salukis then went 74 yards in three plays for a 30-0 lead as Whitlock broke loose for a 49-yard touchdown run.
The Penguins got their lone points late in the third period when Sambursky was pressured by YSU's Justin Martin in his own end zone and threw the ball away.
mollica@vindy.com